Facebook Photo Applications: FaceDown

Facedown is not a true Facebook application, but an independent program designed by Vincent Cheung as a way to bulk download Facebook photos onto your computer. The program also saves a photo's caption in its metadata. Because FaceDown is an independent program, Facebook ordered a 'Cease and Desist' in June of 2008 to stop the program citing that it violates Facebook's Terms of Services. Vincent Cheung has complied with that order instead of facing a potential lawsuit. While the program is no longer available for download, users that already have the software can still use it. Black market or leaked versions of this program still float around the Internet and can be used.

Facebook has also created its own official application that provides the same services as FaceDown. The Facebook Photo Downloader is covered at the end of this article.

The Positive Benefits of FaceDown

Vincent Cheung designed a useful program and not only did he make it available for anyone to download for free but he also created different versions of the program that could be used on almost any computer operating system including Windows, Mac, and Linux. The program was available for download off of his personal webpage. http://www.vincentcheung.ca/facedown/

Facedown allowed users to bulk download photo albums from Facebook. Let's say you've posted a few hundred pictures of Facebook that you've taken of the last five years on your digital camera. You've most likely deleted these photos off of the camera after transferring them to your computer so that you can keep reusing your memory card. Aside from your hard drive the only place where these photos exist is on Facebook.

One day your hard drive burns out or it's wiped out by a virus. You lose everything on your computer that wasn't backed up. The only place you can recover your pictures from is on Facebook. You can either right click each one individually which will take awhile or you could use FaceDown to quickly download each album.

Controversy

FaceDown could also be used to bulk download other users photos. While one can view another user's photos and right click to download them the idea of bulk downloading someone else's album made a few people uncomfortable.

FaceDown was considered an outside invasion of privacy on the network and as a result the company's lawyers have gotten Cheung to stop distributing it on the internet.

Facebook Photo Downloader

Due to popular demand Facebook has developed an application to replace FaceDown. The Facebook Photo Downloader allows you to download your photos as well as your friends.

Search for the Photo Downloader in the search box

Add the application

Select your photos to download

On the photo downloader you may view all the tagged photos you're in, the albums you've uploaded, and the albums your friends uploaded.

Navigate to the album you wish to download. Click on the album and you can view thumb nails of all the photos in it. You can individually check the photos you wish to download, select all in the album, or deselect all. Once you've decided which images you want click download and the bulk download begins.

FaceDown might be gone but it's memory lives on in the PhotoDownloader. It was a useful program and is also an interesting example of how an outside program can influence the world's largest social media network.